Secret report reveals Victoria Police facing a staffing crisis

Secret modelling has revealed Victoria Police is in dire need of more officers amid concerns public safety is being compromised daily.

Published in the Herald Sun on 5 April 2022

By Shannon Deery

The Staff Allocation Model, seen by the Herald Sun, shows the additional police must be brought in within four years.

It comes as details of a police survey have revealed police were routinely taking longer than an hour to attend “Priority 1” jobs including armed robberies, car accidents and home invasions.

Almost two thirds of ­sergeants surveyed for the ­Priority Policing Issues Survey Research Report said officers regularly did not get to jobs at all.

Police Union boss Wayne Gatt said public safety was now being compromised daily.

“I can’t promise you that the police are going to come when you call. You know why? Because we don’t have enough police in police ­stations,” Mr Gatt said.

“If you think the only crisis is an ambulance you’re kidding yourself. It’s the only crisis you can see, because if you don’t get there in 20-30 seconds, people die. In policing we are late or never come all the time, but because we don’t measure it, no one knows.”

The survey of police also found 72 per cent of sergeants reported staff shortages in their work units or stations.

Staff shortages resulted in members being taken from core shifts, while also leaving them unable to proactively police and patrol on foot.

As a result, there were many ­instances of no follow-up on crime reports and non-attendance at jobs, the report said.

Unlike forces in most states, Victoria Police does not report response times to establish the true extent of any delays.

The Andrews government in 2016 implemented a Staff Allocation Model to determine the number of frontline police needed to keep Victorians safe. It recommends an extra 1500 police in the next four years.

Victoria Police developed the SAM in consultation with the Police Association to match police with demand and population growth.

The government last year promoted SAM as “critical in assessing the impact of the 2019-20 bushfires and Covid-19 on police resourcing”.

Mr Gatt said: “This number (1500) isn’t what we want, this is what we expect – 1500 means you don’t have a policing crisis in four years.”

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the SAM forecast was based on real evidence, but she would not say whether police had asked the government to fund extra officers in next month’s budget.

“Victoria Police has regular discussions with government about its operating model, issues of concern, and community safety,” she said. “These conversations are in confidence and it would be inappropriate to discuss publicly.”

A government spokesman refused to discuss police numbers, but said officers would have the resources needed.